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by Tsuki_Amano



Series: 365 Stucky Shots [20]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU-Canon divergence, Bucky is a YouTuber, Fluff, M/M, Youtuber AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:13:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4771361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuki_Amano/pseuds/Tsuki_Amano
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve has his guilty YouTube pleasures, just like everyone else. Except there's one difference. His favourite YouTuber is also his next door neighbour.</p><p>A meet-cute AU where Bucky is TheWinterSoldier and Steve is an up and coming illustrator.</p>
            </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to the Boyfriend does my Makeup fic, but you don't need to read that to understand this. Steve is post-serum version in this.

“Never would have pegged you for a fan boy Rogers.”

Steve chokes on his French fry and hurriedly exits the YouTube app on his phone, shoving it into his pocket.

Sam slides into the seat next to him and grins, “Dude, relax. Everyone has their guilty pleasures.”

“What even you?” Steve asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Ever heard of **TheBlackWidow**?” Sam asks cheerfully.

By the time Peggy joins them, Steve and Sam have launched into an in-depth discussion about their favourite YouTubers and their various videos. There’s one thing that Steve’s avoided mentioning to them though.

His knows his favourite YouTuber a little more personally than most fans.

His favourite YouTuber is his next door neighbour.

Steve hadn’t known this at first. When he’d moved into his apartment, the elevator had been broken and he’d been ready to collapse under the weight of a heavy carton when someone had grabbed the other end and asked, “Need an extra hand pal?”

And so Steve had met James Buchanan Barnes, better known as Bucky, his next door neighbour. With a rakish grin and a prosthetic arm which Steve didn’t ask about, Bucky helped Steve make quick work over the next two hours of carrying in all his boxes.

By the time he was done, he’d worked up a fine sweat and Steve totally wasn’t turned on at all.

He’d invited Bucky in to grab a drink and some lunch ( _Well, boxed juice and instant ramen_ ) but Bucky had said, “I’ll have to take a rain-check. I’ve actually got to get work soon. But let me know if you need any help setting up or with directions or anything. I’d be glad to help out.”

Fifteen minutes later, Steve watched another man, with short sandy blond hair and incredible arms carry what looked like ten bags of take-out into Bucky’s apartment. He told himself resolutely that he wasn’t disappointed that Bucky had apparently lied to him and that he was apparently _not single._

He’s almost convinced himself, washing his dishes and preparing to open some boxes when the doorbell rings, almost three hours later.

Surprised, he opened the door warily ( _it wasn’t like he knew anyone yet and he hadn’t ordered anything_ ) only to find Bucky there, clinging on to the door frame. Pale and exhausted, Steve could have sworn that Bucky had a greenish-tinge about him.

He’s barely able to get him to sit on the sofa and lock the front door before Bucky is sprinting to the bathroom and emptying his stomach of its contents. Which is how Steve spends his first night in his new apartment rubbing his neighbour’s back and holding his hair back for him as he retches violently.

Steve’s not sure if he’s set a precedent.

Later, when Bucky is capable of movement, Steve helps him rinse out his mouth and freshen up a bit before bundling him up on the sofa in a warm blanket and his old sweatshirt. He can’t help but think that Bucky looks like a very disgruntled angry cat.

“’M really sorry pal,” Bucky croaks.

“That’s alright. But, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

“I was filming a taste test video and apparently some of the foreign foods didn’t sit so well with me.” Bucky groans miserably at the thought but Steve’s confused. His bewilderment must show on his face because Bucky explains, “Uh I make videos, on YouTube. For a living. The latest video was what we call a taste test video, where we experiment with foods from different countries and nationalities.”

“Didn’t your boyfriend stay back to make sure you were ok?” And damn, _he has no chill_ , Steve could slap himself right now.

Eyebrows knitted together, he asks, “Boyfriend? Wait you mean Barton? _No no no no no no_. I like Barton, we’re close as two peas in a pod, but we’re not dating. We just make videos together. Barton had a date so he left early and I decided that I’d be a wise-ass and finish all the curry myself. Man, the stupid stuff I do for views.”

Bucky spends the night on Steve’s couch, in all good conscience, Steve can’t allow him to go back to his own apartment in such a state.

The next morning, Bucky slinks off to his own apartment with a promise to wash Steve’s blankets and pay him back for the hospitality. When he leaves, Steve holds out for all of half an hour before he pulls out his laptop and opens YouTube. He searches for Bucky in the search bar and finds his channel, **TheWinterSoldier**.

His channel gains another subscriber that day.

Steve doesn’t really mention it to Bucky, deciding to play it cool. Bucky’s mentioned in one of his vlogs that he hates how he’s lost a lot of his friends ever since he became a YouTuber. People tended to see him as **TheWinterSoldier** and not as Bucky Barnes, which strains his relationships.

So when Bucky comes over that evening to return his blanket and sweatshirt, Steve grins at him evilly and asks whether he’d like to stay for curry flavoured ramen.

As it turns out, Bucky does a lot of weird stuff for his videos. Steve thought that being a comic book illustrator, he’d seen the definition of weird. After all, there was nothing like spending a week before a deadline running on caffeine and the fear of losing a paycheque to bring out the best in you. He’d seen people talking to inanimate objects before, including a particularly moving serenade to a potted plant.

But Bucky was on a whole different level.

After his taste test mishap, it looked like he was staying away from food related videos, at least for a while. Which would have been fine except that Bucky had now ventured into the land of skits and parody. Steve had lost count of the number of times he’d walked up the stairs to find Bucky and his friends shooting for a video, often in costume, running through bizarre dialogues. He’s almost been hit on the head with a sword once and ever since then, he tends to approach their floor with caution.

The thing is, Steve might sort of be a little infatuated with Bucky. It had started with him being interested in his channel, but the more Steve got to know his neighbour, the more enamoured he became.

He’s sort of gotten used to Bucky’s erratic schedule now, like how he stays up ridiculously late to edit videos and the mornings when he’s posted a video, he’s generally slept an average of two hours so when Steve brings him a cup of coffee, he will beam at him like Steve’s the centre of his universe.

Or how by Wednesday, Bucky runs out of take-out and edible food items in his house, which don’t include Pop Tarts and ramen. Steve usually drags him to the supermarket and makes sure he buys food that will provide him actual nutrition.

Steve knows that despite his cocky attitude, Bucky is really a giant ball of fluff at heart and he takes the comments he gets on his videos to heart. When he gets a particularly cruel comment, he tends to bury himself in misery, cheap alcohol and pizza.

He avoids coming near Bucky’s camera though. Steve’s always been camera-shy and hates the idea of being filmed. But he loves the way Bucky comes alive for his videos and so he watches each and every one.

It’s unlikely his infatuation will ever be reciprocated. After all, Bucky is a celebrity and Steve’s just a guy who draws cartoons. So he never tries to make a move, preferring to be friends instead.

Things change pretty dramatically one weekend.

Steve’s landed a huge opportunity, one of his concept sketches had been scouted by a publishing house and they’d approved his ideas and story boards. For the first time in his career, Steve will be doing something that challenges his creativity and he’s never been so excited in his life. Peggy and Sam insist on going out to celebrate and Peggy stops by his apartment to make sure he keeps to his word.

They’re leaving, Peggy’s armed linked in his, when Bucky comes racing up the stairs, a huge smile on his face. He starts to say something when he sees Steve.

He stops, dead in his tracks when he sees the pair and the smile slides right off his face.

“Hi Stevie,” he musters, but it sounds odd to Steve, lacking the usual cheer. His eyes are fixed on Peggy and how her arm is intertwined with Steve’s.

Steve smiles at Bucky, still too giddy with excitement to notice the tension in the air. “Hey Buck! This is Peggy, she’s my…”

Peggy cuts him off and smiles at Bucky politely, “I work with Steve. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Steve’s told me so much about you.” She removes her arm from Steve’s and extends her hand to Bucky, firmly gripping his hand and not batting an eyelash at the prosthetic.

Bucky blinks at her, “He has? What’s he said?”

“Among other things, what a wonderful neighbour you are. He’s always remarked on how much easier it was to settle down here because of you.”

Flushing, Bucky rubs the back of his head embarrassedly, “Aw, well I can’t say I’m the easiest neighbour to be around or anything. But, uh, you look like you’re heading out. Don’t let me get in the way, I’m just heading home. Nice meeting you Peggy, I’ll catch you later Stevie.”

He waves at them and heads into his apartment.

When they’re safely outside the building, Peggy glares at Steve and hisses, “When exactly were you planning on telling us that _Bucky Barnes_ is your next door neighbour?”

Wincing, Steve remarks, “It never came up in conversation?”

“Steve, is this the neighbour you’re hopelessly infatuated with?”

When she doesn’t get a response, she shakes her head, “You are an absolute moron. Well, at the very least he seems to like you as well, if the glares he was shooting me were any indication.”

Steve tries to sputter that she’s wrong but she waves his protests off and hustles him towards the restaurant to meet Sam.

By the time he gets back, Steve is exhausted. He’s loosening his tie and about to head home when he remembers his encounter with Bucky earlier that evening.

He could have sworn that Bucky wanted to tell him something. Hesitantly, he knocks on his apartment door. A few minutes later, it opens and Steve’s met with a onesie clad Bucky who’s eating Chinese take-out from the carton. He can hear **_Friends_** re-runs in the background and Bucky grins at him sheepishly.

Steve follows Bucky in and asks, “So what’s the celebration for?”

“You know me too well Rogers.” Which is true given that not too many people know Bucky’s celebration routine.

Steve’s surprised when Bucky grabs his laptop and opens it to YouTube.

His surprise quickly turns to amazement when he sees what Bucky wants to show him.

“No way Buck.” He breathes, eyes wide.

There, next to his screen-name sits the number 1,000,000.

Bucky’s finally reached that landmark number of subscribers.

“Is that what you wanted to tell me? Earlier in the evening?” he asks.

Shrugging, Bucky replies, “Well, yeah. I didn’t want to interrupt your date though. But I did want to tell you, after all, you’re a large part of my success.”

Steve’s pretty sure he’s flushing all the way down to his toes. “Buck, that’s too kind.”

“Stevie, pal I was on my way to burning out. Honest, if it wasn’t for you, I would have probably quit a long time ago. And you don’t treat me different, you see me as Bucky, not as some YouTuber even though you watch all my videos. _Yes you idiot I know you watch my videos, I saw your username once._ So when I saw this, I guess I wanted to share my happiness with you, because you’re a big part of that happiness now.”

You could fry an egg on his face he’s sure.

“You wouldn’t have been interrupting Buck. Peggy and I aren’t dating, we’re just friends, like she said. But I’m honoured that you’d consider me as someone so important.”

He sucks in a breath, deciding to man up a bit and take Peggy’s advice for once.

“Tell you what, give me ten minutes and I’ll be back here. What do you say we celebrate properly and play some Mario Kart?”

Bucky’s eyes twinkle as pretends to consider the idea, “I’d say that sounds like a pretty good idea.”

 

 


End file.
